Wells Fargo shares rise on eve of results

Coverage of Prudential Financial initiated with buy rating

By

GregMorcroft

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Shares of Wells Fargo & Co. rose Thursday, as investors prepared for the first of the nation’s largest banks to report fourth-quarter financial results.

San Francisco-based Wells Fargo
WFC, -0.68%
is scheduled to post the results before Friday’s opening bell on Wall Street. Analysts polled by FactSet Research expect the company to, on average, show a profit of 87 cents a share on revenue of $21.34 billion.

Wells Fargo shares added nearly 1% to stand lately at $35.

The company’s results are closely watched because of both its size and its position as one of the nation’s biggest mortgage lenders. It’s also a favorite stock of legendary investor Warren Buffett.

In a related development, Buffett said that U.S. banks have strengthened their capital bases and no longer pose a threat to the economy, Bloomberg News reported.

Buffett, the chairman and chief executive of Omaha-based investment firm Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
BRK.A, -1.00%BRK.B, -1.14%
told the news service in an interview conducted last week that the banks’ “capital ratios are huge” and that “the excesses on the asset side have been largely cleared out.”

Meanwhile, shares of Prudential Financial Inc.
PRU, -0.07%
stood near the top of the sector’s gainers list. Citigroup analysts started coverage of the provider of insurance and financial services with a buy rating.

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